Peruvian Culture

When I first got here I made some notes about the culture that I wanted to share with you. I recently found the list while I was cleaning my room and wanted to post it since I never did before. I’m sure most, if not all, of the things I’ve probably mentioned in previous entries, but I still think it’s interesting to look back at my initial observations. Let me preface this by saying that many of these things will appear to be negative statements, but they are not meant to be. They are simply observations and things I have grown, for better or for worse, of this culture.

• They talk a lot about weight and appearances, but they don’t mean it to be offensive.
• Nose picking and breast feeding and not public taboos. They will pick their nose right in the middle of a conversation and they don’t just brush the surface – they really go up in there.
• Never smile in photos unless you tell them too. Instead of saying "cheese" like we do before a picture, they say "Whiskey!" - hahahaha.
• Very resourceful/resilient people – they have had to cope with a lot in their history and are very good at working with what they have.
• There are stray dogs everywhere and none of them are spayed or neutered so they are always humping each other (by the way, did you know two dogs can get stuck together while doing this? I’ve seen it numerous times, but I still don’t understand it.)
• Not only does the town have a two-week long fiesta, but so does every school. The kids miss a lot of classes practicing their marching for the parade and preparing for all of the festivities. There are sports tournaments, folkloric dance competitions, speech contests, and parades – both during the day and a night with these fancy things made out of colored transparent paper in the shape of birds, houses, people, etc. that are lit by candlelight.
• No lines anywhere. People walk into a store and expect to be waited on immediately. They interrupt whatever transaction is happening and the worst part is, the store owners will stop helping you and help them (this isn’t just because I’m a gringa, it happens to the Peruvians too). There aren’t even lines in the Municipality. I’ve seen people interrupt meetings to get their questions answered right then and there.
• Almost everyone has a cell phone – even the campesinos. They might not have food on the table, but they have cell phones and lots of people even have TVs and DVD players!
• People will answer their phones in the middle of anything (conversations, meals, meetings, classes, movies etc.) and they never put their phones on silent or vibrate.
• They are always interrupting each other when they talk and pretend to be listening a lot.
• Talk (loudly) amongst themselves during presentations and meetings without thinking anything of it.
• Already talking about when I leave and what it will be like.
• Very complimentary. They are always telling me how nice, beautiful, etc. I am.
• REALLY admire life in the United States and aspire to that. Everyone asks me how they can get a visa to go there and most people would give up everything in a heartbeat to go. [Side note: Something I’ve observed over the past year is that the lighter skinned and blonder you are, the prettier you are.]
• Skinned animals (pigs, goats, cows, guinea pig, etc.) hanging everywhere. There are tons of dead animals just hanging around at the market with flies all over it. The people who cut the meat don’t wear gloves either. [Side note: This has made me be more of a vegetarian in my site because I saw the woman I bought chicken from pick her nose and touch my money before she cut and touched my chicken with her bare hands – yuck!]
• Stuff as many people into moving vehicles as possible. They usually don’t overstuff the front because it’s “against the law” but they will have 15-20 people riding in the back of a truck – standing up no less. Go figure. However, if it is a private vehicle, they will stuff as many people as possible. I’ve been up to 10 people in the front of truck where there are only seatbelts for six.
• Everyone here uses hotmail because most of them chat on MSN Messenger. When I give them my gmail address, they tell me it doesn’t work. Since it doesn’t work on Messenger, they think my entire email account is invalid.
• Kids aren’t given the opportunity to be creative. They all copy each other’s ideas and work in art projects.
• Not sensitive to a lot of noise. It seems to me that there is only one level of volume here – MAXIMUM – and it will start as early as 6 am and go until all hours of the night.
• Take “saludar” (greeting people) and their personal appearance very seriously. Even if they don’t have a lot of money, their hair is always combed nicely (women and girls almost always have their hair braided in some fancy way) and their shoes are shined.
• They don’t dress that differently from us (this is more true on the coast where they have access to more modern clothing). In Bambamarca there is a wide range of clothes. Obviously this also has a lot to do with how much money the families have.
• People wear the same outfits for a week straight, especially kids who wear uniforms to school in the morning. [Example: Giff and I gave my host brother a soccer jersey for his birthday. He put it on the day I gave it to him and wore it everyday for two weeks. I saw him wash it two different afternoons so it would be dry by the next day when he got home from school.] By the way, many of my Peace Corps friends have adopted this habit. It makes laundry much easier, especially when you have to wash everything by hand.
• Public schools usually only go until 1 pm so they can go home and eat lunch with their families. They get a half hour recess around 10:30 am where they can buy snacks and in the elementary school, kids are provided with a big piece of bizcocho (sweet bread). [Side note: this changed with the new government. My host brother now starts school earlier and goes to school until 2 pm. Some schools go until 5 pm with a 2 hr. break for lunch.]
• One of the public schools in town has three sessions to accommodate all of the students. First and second grades (equivalent to freshmen) go in the morning until 12:45 pm and third – fifth grades (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) go in the afternoon from 1 until 6 pm. There is also a night session from 7-10 pm for kids who work during the day.
• Religion is very important to them. No one really goes to church, but it’s always one of the first questions they ask you. They really believe in fate and always say, “Dios sabe lo que hace” (God knows what he’s doing).
• Although they are an under-developed country, they do some things that we could learn from the in States. For instance they are very good at water conservation and reusing almost everything they have. We rarely have much garbage because they find a way to reuse everything (many of my Peace Corps friends have seen their things put to use after they threw them away because their families went through their garbage – haha). Almost everyone here uses florescent light bulbs because they use a lot less electricity.
• They call each other “gordita” (fatty), “indio” (Indian), “chinito” (Chinese) as terms of endearment with close friends and family.
• They say I’m “rubia” (blonde) because my hair and skin is lighter than theirs.
• They call anyone with lighter skin a “gringo” even if they are Peruvian.